After She Left
by SkittlesUhbDhm
Summary: Kagome leaves back to her own time after Naraku is defeated to go back to school and live a normal life. Kouga, Ginta, and Hakaku go up to the mountains to find Ayame, since Kouga finds himself falling for her. [Finished]
1. Why So Heartless?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha and its characters, though I really wish I did.

**Kat:** I'm a big Kouga/Ayame shipper, hence this story, because I think, if Ayame was in the manga, her and Kouga would end up together, and such. Nods. Yeah...

It had been several months since Ayame had last been seen after her tribe was attacked, but she was back up in the mountains with the remainder of the wolves and wolf demons from the pack. The rusty brown haired wolf hadn't ventured down from the mountains for quite a while, and had slightly given up on Kouga remembering his proposal, but she still had hope deep down in her. A light breeze blew through the young wolf demon's hair as she sat on the peak of a mountain, looking down into the valley with slightly glazed over emerald green eyes, locks of hair blowing into her eyes, obscuring her vision, though she made no move to push them away. As a sigh left slightly parted lips, she pushed herself to her feet and straightened out the white fur skirt that rested on her hips and turned around on her heel, heading back to her tribe, her cloak billowing out behind her in the wind as she walked.

The wolf tribe had noticed a change in emotion from their leader's daughter, but would never try and talk to her about it since she had blown up at one of the other wolf demons when he asked her about what had happened between Kouga and herself.

(Flashback)

'Lady Ayame,' the wolf demon had said, coming up behind her up on the cliff one evening, 'why do you spend most of your time up here now?' He had gotten no response, so sat himself down beside her, looking to where she had her gaze glued; the valley was below, but he didn't know what she found so interesting about it, so just looked up from it. 'Did something happen with the wolf demon? What was his name...? Kouga, was it?'

Ayame turned away from the valley and glared at her fellow wolf demon, 'Nothing happened! He's a jerk and deserves everything he got from that half demon InuYasha!' Her voice had raised and chilled the man to his bones; he had even backed away from her while she was yelling. 'That bastard, saying he didn't remember his promise to me, how could he lie and not feel an ounce of guilt?!' she had raised her voice even more and several of her wolves had come up to see what was the matter, along with several of the demons.

'Now, now, maybe he did feel guilt but didn't show it?' he suggested, gulping after he spoke because Ayame just rounded on him, staring daggers at him. 'I-it was just a th-thought!' he stuttered, pushing himself back towards the path on the cliff, then quickly stood up as Ayame did so.

The female wolf had brandished her sword and was pointing it at the male that was in front of her, the point towards his throat, 'You're sticking up for him and you don't even know how much he hurt me?' It was rare that Ayame used her sword, and when she did, that was never good, because it showed how angry she was. Her eyes showed a hate that no one had ever seen before, they burned with fire, hatred that she had been holding in since her first visit back from the valley finally showing through the façade she had put on.

'L-lady A-Ayame,' he said, eyes wide in fear as he stepped back several paces, his eyes resting on the red hilted sword. As she sheathed it, his gaze dropped to her wrapped feet, looking at the bottom of the fur that hugged her calves somewhat loosely.

Licking her lips a little, Ayame turned around and headed farther up the mountain, hoping that no one would follow her and want to talk, she didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, just wanted to look down on the valley and watch whatever she could see. At times, she would look down to where she had run into Kouga when she had come down from the mountains and strain to see if he was there, but it was much too far for her to see, so she just watched it for a while before tearing her gaze from it.

(/End Flashback)

The wolf tribe tried to stand clear of the young female when she was angry, or looked it, only going to her when they would leave to go for a hunt to see if she wanted to join them; she would just shake her head and walk off. Once happy and bright with smiles, she was now miserable, missing Kouga and wishing she had never left her home in the mountains to find out he was engaged to another woman: A human, none the less. She growled lowly and glared at the ground, watching her feet hit it with more force than she would normally have hit the ground, even after telling herself that Kouga had no regret for how much he hurt her. 'That damn wolf,' she said to herself, clenching her fists, nails digging into the palms of her hands, 'how dare he put me in so much pain,' she looked down at her hands as she unclenched them, some drops of blood escaping the cuts. Her eyes traveled up her arms and at the white fur cuffs she wore and took one off, dabbing at the pool of blood in her right palm with it, her gaze softening.

'Maybe he really did forget,' she said quietly to herself as she walked into the den, keeping her gaze at the ground, not saying a word as several people greeted her. She didn't want to speak to them, she wanted to find Kouga, she would find Kouga, and she would give him a piece of her mind, tell him the truth, and tell him about all the pain he put her through. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she saw the scene playing in her mind; she let the smile cross her face and she laughed out loud, not realizing it until someone came up to her.

'Was it something we said that made you laugh?' the person had asked, hoping that it was them that had made the wolf demon smile and laugh openly. 'Was it?' the girl repeated, looking up at Ayame since she was taller.

'No, it wasn't,' Ayame replied, walking to the back of the den, ignoring the hurt look on the child's face as she passed by her. 'It was just something I thought about,' she said, looking over her shoulder at the girl's face, which seemed to have changed dramatically since the question was asked. 'But it was you who helped me smile,' she added, forcing a smile upon her pink lips, hoping that what she said would make the child happier; it did.

The young child smiled, her eyes lit up with joy and happiness, obviously believing she had helped Ayame to smile like she had once done before meeting up with Kouga. 'I really did?!' she asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as Ayame nodded, trying to keep the smile on her face, which was slowly starting to fade from her features.


	2. I'm Falling For Her

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

**Kat:** The first part of the story was how Ayame's doing, so this part is going to be about Kouga and such.

Kagome had left, leaving Kouga alone with no one to chase after, he wasn't acting the same as usual, but was still somewhat the same way as before he had realized he was in love with the wrong girl. Kouga had run into InuYasha and everyone several times, but he didn't fight with the dog anymore; there was no reason to fight these days because Kagome had left. The demon looked as he had before everything seemed to pile in on him, before he realized he loved Ayame, and before Kagome left, he took care of himself, hoping one day either of them would come back, but that was just a silly wish. He knew neither of them would return, why did he keep hoping for it and keep looking outside his den and his tribe's territory in case they came? No matter what he never wanted to know that he might never see them again.

It had been nearly a month since hearing the news that InuYasha was no longer traveling with Kagome, and he sought out to find her, thinking she still remained in the feudal era. He searched high and low, across the entire countryside to find that she wasn't there, and had left, to where he didn't know, but she wasn't coming back.

Sighing deeply, the wolf demon walked through the waterfall entrance to the cave and stopped in the mouth of it, looking around for Ginta and Hakaku, who were sitting some distance away chatting with the other tribe members. 'Ginta, Hakaku,' Kouga began, somewhat bored with his speech already, 'we're going up to the mountains for a while.' At the moment, he didn't feel like explaining, so he just said that, not going into detail as to why, but just saying they were going for a hunt, whatever excuse he came up with, he used.

Ginta and Hakaku stood up, putting a hand to their forehead, saluting their leader as they walked up to the front of the cave, following the raven-haired male out of the cave and onto the path leading from their territory. 'Why are we going up to the mountains?' the ashen-haired companion asked, quirking a brow that would have disappeared into his hairline if it wasn't in a Mohawk. As Kouga began to talk, Hakaku interrupted him, 'We know what you said in there wasn't true.'

Kouga stopped and looked over towards both of his companions, ignoring how the wind pushed his ponytail into his air, tempting him to take a swipe at the air. 'And how do you know that?' he asked, snarling somewhat as he spoke, his voice deep and his eyes narrowing. He laughed a little at their reactions and began walking once again, motioning with his hand for them to follow and ignore how he acted only moments before. 'We're going to find Ayame,' he said, seriously this time, 'I need to tell her something.' _This_ time he wouldn't explain what he needed to tell her, or what he wanted to tell her, just left the two wolf demons standing, er, walking rather confused.

(Flashback)

It was the middle of the night and the moon shined down on the barren path that one person, well, he was a demon, was walking, his ocean blue eyes watching the bits of dirt drift up several inches into the air before falling back down to the ground every time his wrapped feet hit the ground. A small smile played across his lips, though it was soon diminished as he lifted his head and glanced up at the sky, sighing deeply at what he saw. The moon had a rainbow dancing across it, shining in the pale light the moon gave off, reminding the demon of the promise he had made years before.

The raven-haired boy clad in brown fur growled lowly to himself, slashing at the air in front of him, as it angry with something it had done to him as he quickened his pace to almost a jog, hoping to get the memory out of his head. 'Ayame...' he said quietly to himself as he slowed down once more, coming to a stop before his territory, 'I'm sorry...' Looking up quickly, Kouga let his gaze rake through the area, hoping no one was around to listen to him apologize to someone who wasn't anywhere near him.

Kouga lifted his feet and finished his walk to the den of his tribe and walked in, ignoring the water roughly pouring down on him and the pain he felt as it stung his face. Walking to the back, he sat down on the bit of brush that he had gathered and crossed his legs, the brown fur wrapping around his waist falling into his lap, his tail twitching somewhat annoyed. How in the world was he going to get up to the mountains? No matter what he had to do, he would, seeing the rainbow moon just drove him to find a way even more.

(/End Flashback)

Ginta looked at Kouga, who seemed to have drifted off to another world and quirked a brow, shaking his head as they started towards the mountains. The wind blew through Ginta's white and black hair, ruffling it a little, though he gave no notice, as it was always ruffled like this. 'Do you know exactly where her tribe is?' he asked, picking his pace up a little as he caught up with him, now walking on his right side, Hakaku on his left. As Kouga shook his head, Ginta and Hakaku both sighed deeply, rolling their eyes at the ground.

'If I find her scent I'll know or the scent of one of her wolves or demons from her tribe,' he said and sniffed the air, sighing as he caught nothing but his own kind. 'We just need to go up the mountain to where I first met her,' he said simply, shrugging his fur clad shoulders lightly.

'And that would be...?' Hakaku said, looking over at Kouga, who looked at him, smiling nervously as he bit his lower lip. 'Let me guess,' he mumbled, 'you forgot? Come on, Kouga, you only proposed to her after you saved her, how could you forget that?!'

Kouga looked rather taken aback by Hakaku's comment on his proposal, 'How did you find out about that?!' He was baffled, he hadn't told Ginta or Hakaku about it, but maybe they had been near when Ayame mentioned it? Sighing deeply, the young demon tribe leader dismissed the question and kept walking, ignoring the answer he got from Hakaku. If what his companion had said was actually the answer, Kouga didn't know, he had gone back into his thoughts.


	3. I'm Sorry, Just Listen

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters in the manga/anime.

**Kat: **Okay, so this is after Kouga finds Ayame, because I'm much too lazy to type the whole journey and I'm not sure what would happen to Kouga, Ginta, and Hakaku.

It had been a long week's journey, but Kouga and his two companions, Ginta and Hakaku, had finally picked up the scent of Ayame and were heading to where it led them. The scenery from the valley changed completely as they got higher into the mountains, as did the weather, though the cold wasn't too unwelcome after the long journey up the mountain since they broke a sweat. Trees were all over, the path was rocky and uneven in most places, causing the three male wolf demons to trip on occasion, and the air seemed to be thicker, or something that they couldn't put their finger on for some reason.

Kouga's blue eyes drifted around the are that they had stopped and rested in, something ringing a bell in his mind, 'Wait a minute...' He stood up, pushing some hair back, sweat glistening on his face as he began to pace the area, hands behind his back and a look of concentration on his face, a look of dawning crossing it as he looked over at Ginta and Hakaku. 'I know where we are,' he told them, 'come on; we're almost to Ayame's den!' With that, he put on a burst of speed and began running and jumping up the edge of the cliff, hoping to find Ayame.

Ginta glanced at Hakaku, who shrugged, and ran off after Kouga, though was actually really far behind him; Ginta followed his example and bounded up the side of the cliff as well. It was ten minutes before they came over the peak, standing at the edge a few minutes, staring at the bewildered Kouga and the back of a female clad in white with red-brown hued hair. 'What happened?' the one with the-two toned hair asked, walking away from the edge of the cliff with his friend.

'Wait, Ayame, wait a minute!' the raven-haired demon shouted after the girl, obviously it being Ayame, as he ran after her, quickly catching up because of the shards embedded in his legs. 'Just give me a chance to talk to you, Ayame; I don't want you to hate me forever!' he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her around, jumping back a little at the look on her face.

Normally emerald green eyes seemed to be burning red, flames dancing in the pupils as she looked at him, her eyes narrowed into a glare as she took a step closer to him. 'Why would I ever listen to you try and explain? You will never know the pain you caused me, never know how much hurt I felt then, even now! Why do you come up here now and try to explain, after letting me wallow in my woes for the past several months?! What type of person are you to make the person you proposed to feel more pain than she ever imagined; what type of person are you for lying to her, saying you were engaged to another woman? I don't get you, Kouga, I _don't_ get you.' With that said, Ayame turned on her heel, walking up the path and towards her den, hoping that Kouga wouldn't follow her to try and speak and apologize again.

It was about ten minutes before Kouga walked back down to Ginta and Hakaku, who had sat down while they waited for Kouga to start walking again and get over the shock that was delivered to him. Blinking in befuddlement, Kouga sat down on a rock that was protruding from the cliff side of the path, putting his head in his hands. 'Where did I go wrong with that conversation?' he asked himself, not looking to either companions he had brought along, not caring if they were going to answer him or not.

Ginta took a sideways glance to Hakaku, wondering if he should answer, and, with the look of Hakaku's face, he wasn't sure what to say, either, so the two stayed silent, watching their leader in his misery. Both sighed as they took a seat beside Kouga on the protruding boulder, neither daring to look at him or each other, though they weren't sure why.

The wolf prince stood up and let his gaze drift across the mountainside as he walked down it to where him and his two companions were when he first found Ayame's scent. He wouldn't give up; he'd end up making her listen, even if it took him a year or more to make her trust him again: He was going to make her love him again. Both of his friends exchanged glances and stood up, sprinting down the mountain path to catch up with Kouga, who had gotten rather far for the two minutes the two were sitting down, looking even more confused than before.

'Kouga, are we going back?' Ginta asked, looking up at the tanned features of the wolf demon, who just shook his head, not wanting to speak at the moment. 'Then why are we heading back down the mountain?' the same wolf demon asked, still watching Kouga, a brow quirked at why he was heading down the mountain path towards their tribal lands, yet they weren't going home.

'Does it matter where we're going?' Kouga said, growling as he looked over at Ginta, who just turned away and said nothing more. 'If you really care, we're going to where Ayame and I first met; I'm sure she still goes there, and she'll have to talk to me when she sees me,' he stated happily. He thought there was no flaw in his plan, but there were several, for one, Ayame could just walk away like earlier, for second, she might not even go to where he was, and for third, he might get the wrong spot. Kouga didn't care, as long as he spoke to her again, apologized about his lies, and confessed his feelings to her; but would she listen?


	4. If Only I Could

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

**Kat:** If it seems like I'm repeating myself at the beginning, I kind of am, though it's intentional, so don't bother me about it before you finish the whole thing.

Turning on her heel, the young wolf demon stormed off up the mountain, ignoring any please that Kouga shot at her as she left, not wanting to listen to him beg her for forgiveness; she wouldn't give it to him. As she turned onto another path, leading up higher on the mountain, she stopped where Kouga had sat down, looking over him, sighing deeply as she watched him helplessly. Ayame felt even more pain now than when she had first seen him, she had thought telling him all the things she had said would help her forget the pain and place it on him, but now it hurt even more than she had imagined it would.

Sitting down on her legs, she put her hands on the edge of the cliff and pushed herself up onto her knees and hands, watching as Kouga stood up and left down the mountain, her lower lip quivering as she silently mouthed, 'I'm sorry,' knowing it was a fruitless attempt. Her eyes were full of tears that she refused to let fall, and her vision was being obscured by them, everything becoming a blurry mess as she fell back onto her the lower part of her legs, growling lowly to herself. 'Ayame, you idiot,' she said, wrapping her arms around her as she let the tears silently fall down her paled cheeks, 'why didn't you just listen to him?'

Ayame stood up, taking a deep breath as she quickly brushed her tears away and started walking higher up the mountain, hoping that if she went up there, she'd be left alone by anyone who wondered where she was. Her mood had changed so dramatically since she first saw Kouga coming up the mountain path to now, when she was walking away from him, knowing she'd probably never see him again now. Happiness had welled up inside to see the familiar face, body, and outfit of the man she had fallen in love with when they first met, though when he had tried to apologize, hatred had taken over, and she had said everything she wanted to say to him. Everything.

She stopped and fell to the floor, sobbing silently to herself again, not caring that the white fur she wore would soon be a dusty brown, only caring how much she had hurt Kouga and the pain she caused the two of them. Placing a hand on her cheek, she brushed the tears away, sighing as she stood up, looking down on the scene below, she wished she hadn't been so truthful with the demon she had once loved so much. Ayame pushed herself up off the ground, brushing what dirt and dust from her leg warmers off as she began to head back down the mountain and towards the caves.

'I didn't mean anything I said, Kouga,' she said silently to herself as she slowly walked down that mountain path, sighing deeply every so often, 'it was just bottled up anger...' The wolf demon kept repeating that same thing to herself over and over again, hoping that it would become true after hearing it said so many times, hoping that things would change and she'd be happily walking with Kouga. No matter how many times she heard it, repeated it to herself, it wasn't happening, she would keep looking over to her right, then her left, and see if he was there, he wasn't there any of the times she looked. After a while, she gave up on what she was saying, knowing it would never be true, knowing that what she said would always remain embedded in her brain and probably in Kouga's as well.

As Ayame came to the part of the path she had stormed away from Kouga, she looked down it and towards the end, where Kouga, Ginta, and Hakaku were still walking, then put a hand out in front of her, biting her lower lip. 'Kouga!' she shouted, her eyes wide in shock at what she had just done, so she bounded up the path and towards her den, hoping to all that was holy that Kouga didn't hear her or didn't recognize her voice, though with how loud she yelled, and how distinguishable her voice was, it was impossible,

'That was stupid, Ayame, just plain stupid,' she told herself after she slowed down and made sure she was out of any eyes from the peak at the end of the path, and shook her head, rusty brown hair falling into her eyes. The demon sighed and looked around as she came to the entrance of the cave and looked it; the majority of the tribe had gone hunting, which left Ayame time to think about everything and convince herself that Kouga was serious about what he had said.

'You're going to have to believe him sooner or later,' a voice told Ayame, who quickly turned around, surprised to hear someone speaking to her, not knowing she was actually talking to herself. 'Knowing you at the moment, it's going to be later, because you're too stubborn to believe him until he proves himself!' Ayame nodded her head in agreement to what she was telling herself, down casting her gaze to the ground, disappointed in herself, and how she couldn't believe anyone after they lied to her.

The young girl nodded to herself again as the same thing repeated in her mind, agreeing with everything she was telling herself whole heartedly, not being able to disagree for some reason she didn't know. 'I know that, I know everything you're telling me,' she said aloud, emerald gaze glancing around the area for anyone who might be coming back from the hunt. 'How am I supposed to make it sooner? I can't believe him after all the lies he fed me, I can't truest him after everything he's done and said since I went down to him, I don't know why, though.' As she finished speaking, she sighed deeply and brushed strands of hair out of her face and pushed her pigtails back behind her shoulders since they had been blown in front and on her chest, covering her red and black armor.


	5. I'll Prove It To You

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha and company, nor any of its characters.

**Kat:** Okay, sorry it took so long for this and that it's probably going to have a happier note than it should, happiness is not cool.

All three male wolf demons had heard the shout, though hadn't heard what was said, so they turned to look up the mountain path, only to see a bit of dust as someone ran off, leaving them somewhat confused. Shrugging a bit, Ginta and Hakaku both started walking back down to where they were heading, starting to talk, but realized that Kouga was no longer with them, but walking up the mountain path. 'Er... Kouga, where are you going?' both asked at the same time, brows quirked as they followed after him, somewhat slowly, though.

'No, stay,' he said as he turned around to look at them after they asked the question, 'I'm going to go talk to her without you two near me. Besides,' he said, starting up the path again, 'I don't want you to hear our conversation, it's quite nerve racking knowing someone else is listening.' Kouga said no more as he finished his walk, but stopped and sniffed the air to catch Ayame's scent, which he did, and followed it to her den, stopping in front to watch the girl finish the argument with herself before speaking. 'Ayame...' he said, his voice was quiet, and it hadn't seemed to reach Ayame's ears that he had arrived until she heard him clear his throat, which sent her tumbling off the rock.

'K-Kouga, what're you doing here?' she asked as she stood up, and brushed herself off, her emerald eyes showing happiness, yet her face showing anger; she was happy Kouga had come, yet hated him for coming. 'What I mean is... why did you come up here? I know it's not because of me, and I want the truth,' her voice quivered a little, she was scared of the answer she was going to get, afraid of how much more pain she would have to endure before she got the truth from him.

The raven-haired wolf stayed silent for a while, sighing deeply as he walked up to her and stood just a few feet from her, his sea blue eyes gazing intently at her, trying to think of how to put what he was thinking into words. 'Ayame...' He didn't know how to say what he was thinking, so he stayed silent while he played the scene in his head, not knowing how to make the female freak out at him or yell and not believe his words. Sighing, the wolf demon shook his head and took several steps back, 'I don't know how to say it without you thinking I'm lying... but, I'm sorry for everything...'

What Kouga had said was true, she didn't believe him; she thought he was lying, like earlier, and she wouldn't believe him, so she just shook her head, rusty brown hair falling into her paled features, while she just watched him back up slightly. 'You're right, I think you're lying, but after all the lies you've told me, I have good reason to think that, and I'm not going to believe you until you can prove it,' Ayame said, her voice staying at one level the whole time she spoke, her lips barely moving. It looked as though she would start crying again, but the girl just pushed away the tears, biting her lip as she continued gazing at the person she once had loved so much, now holding nothing but hate for him.

'I _will_ prove it, Ayame, even if I die trying,' he said sincerely as he turned around and walked back down to his comrades, occasionally looking back at Ayame, hoping that she would come bounding after him and say she forgave every lie he told and everything he did to hurt her. When she didn't, Kouga put his head in his hands, shaking his head silently in them while he groaned at his words, wondering how he would get her to believe him to the extent that he might possibly end up killing himself in the search for her trust. Sighing deeply, he came up beside Ginta and Hakaku and looked at them a minute before turning and continuing the walk down the path and towards where he had first met Ayame.

Ginta looked at Hakaku and bit his lip a little as he began to walk after Kouga, Hakaku right beside him, giving the same look, 'What do you suppose happened while he was up there?' Ginta had been the first to ask, though Hakaku had opened his mouth to ask just as Ginta had started speaking, making him quickly close it, shrugging soon afterwards.

'He'll never tell us, so why do we even care? I mean, if we ask him, he's just going to look at us for a minute then keep walking or just not pay attention and act like we never asked,' the one with the Mohawk asked as he sighed deeply, picking us his speed as Ginta had gotten some distance ahead of him and was now walking beside Kouga. 'Oh, boy, probably asking him what happened, 'Hakaku muttered before he stood on the other side of Kouga, not saying anything in case the anger the distressed demon.

Kouga glanced on either side of him at his two companions, 'It's about time you guys decided to get your asses moving and catch up with me,' he growled to them, glaring at the ground when he turned to the front again, clenching his fists. He sighed and shook his head, slowly unclenching his hands, and looked down at them, seeing light imprints from his nails and groaned a bit, looking back up as he turned onto a path that lead to a wooded area and walked into the tress, sitting down beneath one with a sigh.

Ginta sat down on the right side of Kouga while Hakaku occupied the left, both stayed silent as they crossed their legs, sitting Indian style on the ground, watching Kouga intently. If he was going to say something and get angry about what he said, they wanted to know if they were going to be the ones attacked or not and get away before Kouga could wrap his hands around their necks.


	6. Let Me Die

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

**Kat:** I know it's been a while, because I have had no ideas whatsoever to have Ayame start trusting Kouga again. And then it hit me! Literally; the door hit me, and the idea came to me. You'll have to read to find out.

It had been a good week since Kouga had first seen Ayame, and he hadn't give up just yet, he was still going to her everyday, trying to explain, and getting yelled at just like the first encounter they had. No matter how much Ayame had bashed him, called him names and pointed out how he was a lying bastard, he never gave up; he wouldn't let himself give up, so he kept going back. One thing Kouga had noticed after every visit, was that Ayame was softening somewhat, not yelling as much or as loud and actually listening to him, which meant he was getting close to accomplishing his goal.

The raven-haired wolf demon came down from Ayame's den and down to where him and his two comrades had been staying while up in the mountains and sat down, yawning a little. Ginta and Hakaku had noticed the change in him every time he came back from Ayame's den, though they said nothing, not wanting Kouga to yell at them, just in case something had gone wrong and he was hiding it extremely well. Kouga sat down on the ground beside the river where they stayed and cupped his hands, putting then into the water, and pulled out a handful of water then poured it on his face, washing it.

With a yawn, the tribe leader sat down and leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the sky, letting the wind run through his hair and push strands into his face. He was happy, too happy to care about the wind bothering and irritating him, blowing his hair into his face and obscuring his vision while he looked, with no interest, at the sky and the clouds passing by. Sighing deeply, he looked into the river, watching his reflection move across the shallow water as the water moved, pushing and obscuring his reflection somewhat.

Kouga stood up rather quickly when he heard a shriek then looked around the area, moving his hair out of his eyes, trying to find out where the shriek came from and why it was caused. The first thing Kouga saw was a white and rusty-brown blur rushing down the path of the mountain, being chased by something he couldn't see, but he recognized the blur at once, 'Ayame!' He ran towards her and stopped as she barreled into him, though only looked at him a moment before starting to run down another path again, which confused him somewhat since he wasn't sure why she was running.

What was chasing Ayame had rushed past Kouga, giving him a glimpse of what it was, which sent him running after it, passing it rather quickly, then to Ayame and stopped her as she came to the edge of the peak they were on. The demon chasing after Ayame stopped as he neared Kouga and her, smirking somewhat as he watched the two, nearing them with every minute, laughing as he got closer. It was silence between the two wolf demons, neither daring to look at one another, just watching at the other demon neared them, Ayame shaking, paralyzed with fear, while Kouga was ready for whatever came, whether it was thrown at him or Ayame.

It was several minutes of the two wolf demons staring at the other demon before the other demon made a move to attack Ayame, who was quickly pushed out of the way by Kouga and onto the ground beside them. 'Argh,' Kouga groaned as the demon bit into his shoulder as he tackled him, pushing them both off the side of the cliff with the demon tearing at Kouga, hoping to kill him before they hit the ground, making Kouga wince with pain every so often.

As Kouga and the demon tumbled down the side of the mountain, Ayame quickly jumped up and watched them fall, tears obscuring her vision as she saw Kouga falling beneath the larger demon, 'Kouga!' Her voice shook quite a bit, and she stuttered more than she should have for just one word, but she was miserable, the demon that was going to kill her had gotten Kouga instead and was probably going to kill on the fall. Without him, her world would shatter, fall to pieces, she would have no reason to live; she loved him with every being of her and it hurt to know he was going to die. Die.

Tears freely streamed down her cheeks as she continued to watch the falling figures which were getting smaller with every second, her cheeks now wet with salty tears that she ignored as she stepped back, nearly tripping over something behind her. As she fell backwards, she was caught, which caused her to quickly jump up and turn around to face whoever it was behind her: Ginta and Hakaku. Both had come running up when they had heard Kouga's name shouted, but were starting to dread finding out what had happened when they saw Ayame and were slowly backing away after she stood up herself.

'Ayame,' Ginta began, biting his lower lip and regretting what he was going to ask, 'where's Kouga at?' He was right; he hadn't wanted to find out, because as he finished speaking, Ayame fell onto her knees, sobbing into her hands while trying to explain everything but was unable to because of the amount of crying she was doing. 'Oh,' Ginta said, acting like he understood what had happened, though really didn't have the slightest idea what was going on, 'I'm sorry.'

'Sorry isn't going to bring him back!' Ayame shouted as she looked up at Ginta and Hakaku, eyes narrowed into a stern glare, her hands trembling with melancholy and anger, both mixed into one. She pushed herself up off the ground, angrily wiping away her tears as she clenched her fists at her, sides, turning her glare from the two wolf demons in front of her to the ground. Hot tears still streamed down her cheeks, but she ignored them as she walked towards the peak's edge, looking down to see if she could still see Kouga and the other demon, though she couldn't. As she lifted her gaze from the valley below, she turned to her sword hilt and unsheathed her sword, looking happily at the blade, a smile gracing her features.

'You can't do that,' Hakaku said to Ayame as he watched her lift the blade, running her fingers across it, 'Kouga wouldn't want you to kill yourself because he died!' He stepped back as Ayame shot a glare at him, then looked to Ginta for help, though got none, as Ginta had backed up and now stood behind Hakaku.

'I'll do whatever I need to do to be with him...' Ayame said in a whisper, her voice holding a hint of longing and dreaming, and she turned around to face them, smiling crazily. She lifted her sword up and held the point of the blade to her chest, 'Ginta, Hakaku,' she began, her hand trembling in fear, 'go now, my tribe won't like to see you at the scene.' Her eyes traveled from their shocked faces to the sky and slowly began pushing the sword into her stomach.


	7. Let This Dream Come True

**Disclaimer: **I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

**Kat:** Last chapter I thought I over did it quite a bit, but eh... I don't know anymore. I'm bad at hiding things, so you probably know who's there before you even begin to read this chapter.

Tears slid down Ayame's cheeks as she forced the sword into her body, ignoring Ginta and Hakaku's pleas to stop and rethink her choice. It had been several long minutes in which the sword was impaling her body before she stopped, eyes wide when she felt someone's presence behind her, the hands of whoever it was reached forward and took the sword out of her hands and tossed it to the side. Ayame lowered her hands to her stomach, covering up where she had begun impaling herself, trying to stop the bleeding, wincing in pain every time she touched the wound; even when she just brushed past it pain shot through her body.

'Why did you do it?' the person behind her asked as she fell onto her knees, clutching her stomach. He sat down beside her and cupped her chin in his hand, turning her face up to look at him; he wanted an answer, she wasn't going to get away with not answering. Sighing, the male dropped her head, watching her for a moment before he shook his head slightly at her ignoring him, either that or she didn't believe who it was, it could also be that she was in too much pain to speak.

Ginta and Hakaku had been looking in amazement ever since they saw the figure come up behind Ayame, unable to believe what their eyes were showing them. Surely it was just their imaginations playing tricks on them, it couldn't be true, not with the way Ayame was acting. Besides, if it was him, the female wolf demon wouldn't be acting like she was, well, she wouldn't be ignoring him at least, unless she still hated him.

'Ayame,' the man began once again, still looking at her, 'why did you do it?' His face had dropped the care which it held at first, and now had a bit of hate and anger mixed in one written across his forehead. Getting no answer, he shook his head and stood up; looking down at the young wolf demon still slouched on the ground, then turned to Ginta and Hakaku, sighing deeply. He would have left, if he thought Ayame would be alright on her own, but he knew she wouldn't, not after what she had done, if he left, it would only make her believe he was gone forever.

To Ayame, the voice sounded so far away, yet so close, so gentle and she recognized it, but couldn't believe who it belonged to, not after she had just seen him plummet to his death minutes before the person had come. She would have answered, but she was afraid to, couldn't answer for fear that it would be just her talking to herself and that she had only imagined what had happened and that he was still dead and that she would soon follow his footsteps. If only that bastard hadn't taken her sword away, she would have been lying on the cold ground dead, happily following after her love, but she wasn't.

A shaking hand, covered in blood, left her stomach and reached towards the sword slowly, grabbing the blade as Ayame pulled it towards her, deciding she would finish the job now, before anyone could stop her again. 'Ungh...' she muttered incoherently as she watched the blade through half closed eyes, the sun glinting off it. It looked so right, like that was the only choice she had, the blade was asking her to finish what she had started and she was listening to it. She was listening to the voice in her head saying it was the only choice, that that was the only thing she could do to be with Kouga again; she didn't want to listen, didn't want to do what she was told, but it was hard for her at the moment.

'I...' she began as she lifted her sword up and pushed it to her stomach again, tears burning at the corners of her eyes, 'I'm sorry...' Once again, the sword was wrenched out of her hands, though this time it was thrown down the mountain's side, rather than just away, so that Ayame wouldn't get it back and try to kill herself again. Why couldn't she just answer the simple question she was being asked, why was she unable to look up into the face of the person with the familiar voice? She couldn't find her voice to answer the question, to speak the truth of why she had started a job she obviously couldn't finish, and she didn't want to look into his face, unable to take the pain of just looking into the air at something she thought was there, but isn't.

Ayame was picked up off the ground by the person with the familiar voice and carried up the mountain path to get her wound treated before it got infected or she lost too much blood. 'I can't believe you'd do that,' spoke the person carrying her, shaking his head as he looked down at the blood that was now dripping from her hand which hung by her side, and at the deep cut, sighing deeply. When her mouth parted to speak, the person holding her stopped in surprise, then kept walking, hoping she would actually say the reason for her self abuse, though she just mouthed words soundlessly.

'I needed to follow him in death,' Ayame managed to mumble, her voice barely above an audible whisper, 'I couldn't live without him any longer...' Silence followed the sentence, the wolf demon probably thinking that she was just talking to herself, despite the fact that she had someone's warm and soft arms wrapped around her body, holding her close. Her hands moved back to her stomach as she pulled her cape up, putting it over the wound in her stomach, hoping that it would stop the bleeding better than her hands were at the moment. 'There was no other choice but that,' she said after thinking for a moment, closing her eyes tightly, not wanting the embrace to end when she completely realized she was dreaming, though had no clue it was really happening.

'What do you mean?' he asked, quirking a brow as he looked down at her, taking one of her shaking, blood covered hands into his own, scratched and rough hands. 'Just look up at me, and tell me who you're talking about,' he smiled as she shook her head at him, then sighed deeply when he noticed she just tightened her shut eyes even more than before. 'Why not?'

'I can't... you'll just disappear and... and...' she couldn't go on, she choked on her words as she started crying again, burying her head into the chest of the man who was carrying her up the mountain. 'If I look at you, the dream will end, and I'll find myself lying on the ground,' she paused and inhaled deeply, 'bathed in a pool of my own blood...' Her voice faded as she finished the sentence and she turned towards the side of the mountain path, still keeping her eyes shut tight, afraid to open them.


	8. Together Again

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

**Kat:** Once again, last chapter was extremely... over done with the drama and such. Gah, I need to stop doing that, but I can't help it, I'm a sap for the depressing crap and drama.

'God damn it, Ayame,' the person said as he cupped Ayame's chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him, 'this isn't a dream, just open your eyes and see for yourself!' His voice was much rougher than when he had first spoken to her, even from the last time they had said something to one another there was a change, and he regretted the yelling right after he finished his sentence. Raven hair whipped into his face as he sighed and dropped her chin, carrying her up the mountain path in silence now, blue eyes resting on the path just feet in front of him, making sure not to trip over anything while he walked. 'I'm sorry,' he mumbled out of the corner of his mouth when he heard the whimpers coming from the petite figure in his arms.

Ayame freely lifted her head and looked up at the figure towering over her and slowly opened her eyes, letting out a rather loud squeak when she saw who it was and realized everything that had happened wasn't a dream. 'Kouga, I thought you died!' she said, staring up at him in disbelief, eyes wide in shock, though her face showed happiness no one had seen from her in ages, and, for once, she was actually extremely excited to see Kouga holding her in his arms. She wrapped bloody arms around Kouga's neck and hugged him tightly, ignoring the pain in her stomach, just happy to be holding onto the one person she truly cared about and loved, tears of joy stinging her eyes. 'I'm sorry for everything I did,' she mumbled as she unwrapped her arms from around his neck, wincing when she went back to laying down in the male's arms, 'I thought it was the only thing I could do to be with you...'

Kouga rolled his eyes at the girl and stopped, ripping off the bottom part of her cape to wrap around her wound so she wouldn't have to keep her hands pressed against the material and bloody herself even more. He stood Ayame up and lifted her armor up somewhat so that he would see the gash and wrapped the fur around her abdomen several times, tying it in the back when he finished. 'You hate me, remember? Why would you want to follow me in death when you weren't _positive_ I was dead?' he asked, continuing the trek up the mountain with Ayame walking by his side. Obviously he had said something because he no longer heard Ayame's footsteps beside him, nor felt her presence right next to him, but somewhat behind him, farther down the path. 'Oh, come on,' he said, rolling his eyes as he turned around to look at her, only to see she wasn't looking at him any longer, but towards the ground and looked as though she wanted to cry again.

'You're... you're right... it was stupid, I didn't know you were dead, I... I...' the female wolf demon couldn't say the other word, because it wasn't true, she didn't hate Kouga, she loved him; loved him so deeply it hurt. Shaking her head, strands of hair fell into her emerald green eyes; she took several steps backwards then looked up and ran up the path, hoping to get past Kouga without him stopping her. To her surprise, he didn't grab a hold of her wrist, or try and stop her from running, but let her rush past him in whatever hurry she was in, just watching her is anger, sorrow, happiness, every emotion he could possibly feel at once.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, flying out behind her as she ran, eyes shut tight, 'I'm sorry...' Her voice was soft, only she could hear the words she spoke, but that's how she wanted it to be, unable to allow anyone else to hear what she was saying. 'I love you, Kouga, I could never hate you, no matter what you did to me, I would never be able to,' she mumbled, shaking her head as she heard what she had just told to the figure down on the mountain path. Sighing deeply, she stopped running and looked down at Kouga, who was starting to get bigger as he advanced up to reach her, which made Ayame wonder why he was starting to come back up after her.

Kouga slowly made his way up the rest of the path, watching Ayame, hoping she wouldn't decide to up and run again, which it didn't look like she would anytime soon since it seemed as though she was glued to the spot at the moment. He stopped just feet in front of her and took a hold of her left wrist with his right hand, looking into her eyes, watching her wince slightly, not in pain, but surprise, and sighed somewhat, then let her go. 'Do you trust me yet? Have I earned back the trust I lost so long ago that you said I'd never get back?' he asked, watching her, his face showing concern, worry, love, everything that showed how he felt for her.

Not a word was echoed about the trust Kouga had asked about, not a word was said between the two after that, Ayame just stared at the raven-haired male in front of her, biting her lower lip, unsure what to say. There was silence between the two for several minutes before Ayame spoke, though her voice wasn't even above a whisper, and when she spoke it was muffled and the words inaudible. She sighed deeply as she looked up at Kouga, nodding her head slightly to answer the question he had asked her, 'I don't hate you, Kouga, I can't hate you no matter what I say... I'm sorry...'

So, that wasn't what Kouga was expecting, at least not the apology or her confessing the truth that she had never hated him, but what surprised him most was the nod he got in answer to his question. Ayame was trusting him again, she believed his words, everything he would say and confess to her, oh happy days! The demon grabbed a hold of Ayame's wrist and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as he whispered apologies into her ear only they could hear.


	9. A Final GoodBye

**Disclaimer: **I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters, nor anything that has to do with him.

**Kat:** Yes, it's been several months since I updated, but I've been swamped with school work and dealing with a new school, so don't hate me! For those of you who hoped this would end on a somewhat happy note, I'm sorry, but it isn't, not even near a happy note, either. Well, on with the story!

A grunt was heard coming from one of the wolf demons, Kouga realizing who it was since he hadn't been the one to make the noise. He looked down at Ayame with worry showing in his features as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach in pain, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. 'What's wrong, Ayame? What's the matter?!' He had bent down beside her and cupped her chin in his hand, trying to look into her mind and see what was bothering her since he got no answer, but he saw nothing.

Her eyes were frightening to him; they seemed to hold no life, no love; nothing showed in them at all, and he was scared to death of what it meant. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know anything that had to do with medical needs, he barely knew what to do when someone was bleeding, so he couldn't do anything to help Ayame. Instead, he just watched Ayame groan in pain and scratch somewhat at the deep gash on her stomach, pulling the fur wrapping from around her stomach.

Ayame put her hand onto the wound in her stomach after getting the fur wrapping off then looked up at Kouga, tears pouring down her cheeks. 'I… I'm sorry…' she managed to say, her voice quiet and barely audible. It hurt her to breath, but she wanted to get everything out she could before everything ended on her. 'I'm sorry… for hating you… for… hiding my feelings…' She inhaled deeply and put one of her cold and paled hands on Kouga's cheek, trying to catch her breath before going on.

'Shush, please don't say anymore, Ayame…' Kouga said quietly, trying to keep any tears he wanted to cry from falling. 'You'll be alright, I promise… I won't let you die…' He took her hand into his and kissed it softly, squinting his eyes to push the tears that stung them away. As Ayame tried to start talking again, he put his finger to her lips, signaling that she needed to stop talking because it'd use up her breath. He picked her up into his arms and walked towards her den, hoping someone there would be able to help.

As he got there, one of the elders rushed up and looked from Kouga to Ayame, eyes wide in shock. 'What did you do to her?!' the elder shouted, taking the female wolf demon from the male, quickly walking inside and to the back. He set Ayame down on the ground and inspected her wound, then stood up and walked back to Kouga, glaring daggers. 'Why must you cause her so much pain? She was fine until you came up here; she would have never done anything like this if it wasn't for you!'

Those words hit Kouga like a ton of bricks and he just stumbled backwards, jaw gaping at the words he had heard. 'M-my fault…? How could it be my fault, though? I just came up to talk to her and tell her I really did love her.' His eyes were wide in shock, never having thought it was completely his fault for the pain Ayame was in; he had known about it being his fault for the deep gash in her stomach, but the elder had put all the blame on him.

'She's dying because of you coming back up here. You should have stayed away for good; it would have been for the best.' The elder shook his head and walked back into the den, sitting down beside Ayame, taking her hands into his. 'I'm sorry for the pain he caused you; you're dying because of him… Why must you do such foolish things for him?'

Ayame's eyes opened and she looked up at the elder with such pain in them, yet so much love, and then she spoke. 'Please… bring Kouga here… I… I want him to be here…' Her voice faded into nothingness as she pulled her hands away, brushing away several tears that had fallen onto her cheeks.

With an uneasy nod, the elder stood up and walked back out of the den, and grabbed Kouga's arm, then walked back inside to Ayame. 'Here you go, Lady Ayame.' He nodded and turned around to leave, figuring she wanted to be left alone with the other wolf demon.

Kouga sat down beside Ayame and took her into a slight hug, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she already was. 'It's all my fault,' he whispered into her ear, kissing her lightly on the forehead afterwards. He had finally realized how much pain he had caused; every last bit of hate she had was towards him, all the love she had was for him as well, and it was all his fault he had turned her away. 'I love you, Ayame; I always have and always will…'

'I… I love you, too… Kouga…' Those were her final words. She took a final breath afterwards and closed her eyes, letting herself die in Kouga's arms, the person she loved. If she had actually had a will to live, she might have made it, but after everything that had happened, what with Kouga coming up to see her, and knowing he loved her, she just wanted to die happy and in his arms.


End file.
